Butt out and save your sight

Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) ophthalmologist Dr Suki Sandhu is giving smokers an extra incentive to quit smoking – saving their sight.

Smoking has a number of ill effects on a person's health, the most well known of these being lung cancer and heart disease. What many people don't realise is that smoking is also linked to a number of sight-threatening eye conditions.

"Smoking is a known risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with research showing that smokers are three times more likely to develop the disease," Dr Sandhu said.

"Research also shows that smokers are two to three times more likely to develop cataracts than someone who has never smoked."

A consulting ophthalmologist at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Dr Sandhu sees firsthand the devastating effect of smoking on a person's sight.

"In the 1960s almost 60 per cent of Australian men smoked. It's these men, who are now in their 50s, 60s and 70s, that I diagnose and treat each day at the Eye and Ear Hospital," Dr Sandhu said.

"Through education and Government legislation smoking rates have dropped dramatically in recent times, with around 18 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women still smoking."

"While these reduced rates are encouraging, they're still too high and it's never too late to quit."

According to Dr Sandhu, research suggests that people who quit can actually reverse their risk levels for AMD.

"This should act as a strong incentive to quit smoking," he said.

AMD is a progressive disease affecting the central area of the retina called the macula. Fifteen per cent of people over 50, or half a million Australians, live with the early stages of the disease.

(Source: Centre for Eye Research Australia)